My truck, 2002 dakota 3.9v6 auto, overheated due to a crack in the radiator. I put a few egg whites in to plug the leak, which it did, then it started leaking again. I put in a few more and it stopped. Then it started leaking again and overheated. I installed a new radiator. All was well.
Then a crack formed on the plastic "T" where the radiator cap goes. It overheated while leaking and the "T" exploded. I bought a new upper hose assembly from the dealer and installed it. I also installed a cheap thermostat at that time.
Now, just recently it started overheating again. I turned on the heaterr and it was blowing cold air. So I thought the cheap thermostat was to blame. I went and bought the higher grade thermostat. I installed it and all seemed fine, then after driving around on my way home it started overheating again. The heater was blowing cold sometimes and hot sometimes but the engine stayed hot.

Could my water pump be clogged from the egg whites that I used a month or 2 ago? Or could it just have gone bad? Is there a way to test the status of the water pump without removing it?
Thanks.

 

Could a bad water pump cause the bad starts? My engine started overheating again, when I turned on the heater it was blowing cold air. Then it started blowing hot air and the temp went down. Then later it started to overheat again. I replaced the cheap thermostat with a better one. It seemed to be fine when I drove it to the bar. On my way home about an hour later it started to overheat again. The heater was blowing hot/cold off and on but the engine temp only dropped slightly.
Is there a way to check the water pump without removing it?

 

Hows the head gasket?

It started with overheating then you say the "T" exploded. That's a bit more than normal pressure. It will also account for the cylinder misfires.

Hard to start, then runs rough for bit. It has water in the cylinder(s).

What does the oil look like?

You have way too many codes for just a water pump and simple boil over. Something serious is going on.

 

I'm pretty sure the head gasket is fine. The oil looks normal. I replaced the intake manifold gaskets and plennum pan gasket.
When it does get hot, the upper hose assembly seems to be under alot of pressure if I squeeze the hose with my fingers. I am taking the water pump off now to see what it looks like.
The dealer couldn't even figure it out. I am going to take it to another refferred local mechanic to have a new set of eyes take a look.

 

Real quick and easy, pull the plugs. I think you said the misfire was first showing on #4 so look at it. The plugs should be a light tan. If they look or feel wet, or if any seem to be very clean, you have a head gasket issue.

Another thing to try is put a pressure tester on the system and see what's going on. If it pulsates at all, you've got a problem.

 

If it won't start after it sits maybe the fuel pressure regulator is loosing pressure after a while.Just a guess.

 

you might want to try a compression test. if it overheated twice you could have damaged the valve train and it could be causing to run rough until it warms up.

 

X 2 on the compression check, stat.

as for the misfire/not starting, I would bet $$ a bad crankshaft position sensor is to blame. mine went out 6 months back and I had he11 figuring it out. like you said, it seemed to work fine once the vehicle got warm. and unlike someone else said, the CPS can definitely be an intermittent problem.

likely the spraying of the anti-freeze all over everything probably pushed that sensor over the edge, especially if you're in an area with salt on the roads or anywhere near the coast.

the part is actually pretty dang simple to replace; two bolts and a snap connector near the distributor. the sensor is near the flywheel (as it reads it magnetically as it spins).

get back to us on that compression check. could also be something loco like a bad radiator cap that's not letting pressure out of the radiator system. or maybe your heater core is blocked since you're having issues with heat/cold. pull those hoses off and by-pass that thing at the firewall and see what that does (connect them together)
corpus dood

 

I took it to another mechanic and he says the head gasket is bad. He said that I would have to replace the gasket and cylinder heads and it's gonna cost me about $1800.00 to do the job. I told him I'd be by to pick up my truck later, not to do it. It would be cheaper to just get a new engine!

Any ideas now? Anyone have an engine for sale?

 

Sorry to hear that. I think I would check on a good low mileage used engine from a junk yard before buying a new one. Most good yards can pull your old engine and install the new one too, and may even do the whole job cheaper than the $1800.00 estimate from the mechanic.

Jimmy